Nintendo handled E3 better than Sony, Microsoft

GGG argues that Nintendo's new strategy of having a pre-recorded video, plus several days of live streaming game demos, was a better way to handle the massive gaming event than Sony and Microsoft's traditional E3 approach.

Nintendo was just faster. There were barely any breaks in momentum during the digital event. No sales numbers. No stats in player count or service population. Just games. And even after the event ended, Nintendo steadily introduced fresh news as the days went on about new or upcoming projects. It felt constant and you never knew what would be announced or demoed next from them.

I never felt like I was waiting for Nintendo to do something cool at E3 this year. They just...did it and it was awesome.

I'm not saying that Sony didn't have much to show. They clearly did, especially Bloodborne, Let It Die, and Uncharted 4.

However, the almost non-existent Vita coverage and that big, noticeable lull of corporate rhetoric from Tretton's replacement was not something worth ignoring. Also, a lot of the stuff shown by Sony was leaked beforehand and wasn't a surprise at all. Uncharted 4 was not a surprise.

I don't know about you, but I don't watch press conferences to hear about how many PS4 cameras were sold last year. When Sony showed the games, it was absolutely stellar and I kept watching, but you cannot deny the fact that the excitement in that room came to a screeching halt when Tretton's replacement came on stage.

Sony had the most to show?? No, they did not. Nintendo had the most just because what they showed can only be played on their system which by default beat sony on principal. Sony showcased multiplats, dlc and timed content. I guess if you want to include that as most content then yea.

but then again Nintendo released more online directs that focused on third party games, and then another that was about 3DS.

so not only did nintendo have talent but they had way more content...exclusive content.

Exclusives, that buzz word this site loves to throw around when its convenient.

@spacecat- Like every E3 before it, Sony doesn't usually show everything, because this is their second E3 and didn't show any footage of Driveclub, only on the booths, because they have to give room not only to 3rd parties, but also to indies, and there's also Gamescom and TGS to show the rest of their stuff, if Nintendo showed most of their first party games in their video, it is a no brainer they're really lacking 3rd party support, and for a company that has so much money, and could not afford to have their own show floor, they could have done it like MS, who went fully to show games. If Nintendo had 3rd party support, better sales, a bigger and active online community, they would have talked all of that in their conference surely.

Not all those games are even exclusive to that Sony or even MSFT they also get ported to PC... BF Hardline, COD AW, Assassins Creed, Batman, Mortal Kombat, GTA 5, Tomb Raider, Fary Cry 4, Starwars Battle Front, Criterion Game, Project Cars, Dead Island 2, EA games and more I have not listed.

I watched the show from a PC / Wii U gamer POV and what I saw from both MSFT and Sony didnt impress me as much as Nintendo strictly because I will have access to roughly 80% of the games they spoke about on PC. Most those games will hit steam at one point and will have 20 to 30% price drops within the first 6 months like every pc game.

I think Both MSFT and SONY had great conferences and Nintendo surprised everyone. I think people are just angry Nintendo was able to overshadow Sony and MSFT with first party alone.

That's not the business side. Saying how much your camera sold is not what people came to see. It has nothing to do with me either. Can you honestly say you enjoyed hearing Tretton's replacement talk for that big chunk of time? Did you hear the complete silence from the audience when free-to-play games were mentioned? There was no obligation for Sony to talk about that. They could've done something else instead of break the momentum and keep people waiting for anything new or interesting. They're so well-known for dropping bombshells at their E3 conferences, so that dead air segment was all the more intrusive.

And PSTV is not Vita coverage. That's not a new game, a AAA exclusive, or a solid partnership from a major franchise leader. It does nothing to improve the Vita's library or support from devs, and the stuff on the show floor? Where was the exclusive content? Where were the games that will get people to buy the system as a GAME system and not a REMOTE PLAY system? You buy a system for things you can't get on another and that's the Vita's biggest weakness, a weakness Sony only reinforced at their show.

No Man's Sky was already announced, no real surprise there. Let It Die was a CG trailer that really didn't say anything about the game itself (though I am a Suda 51 fan). A Skyrim-esque Zelda, a clay-aesthetic Kirby, a creative multiplayer shooter and Bayonetta collection were surprising. Scalebound was surprising. The Grim Fandango re-release was surprising. All of those were exciting because we weren't given any real facts to go on. A leaked image/video is evidence of a game's existence, so it's hard to be surprised at a reveal of Uncharted 4 when the developers themselves already confirmed it exists on Twitter.

Honestly they stole the show hands down. I was quite surprised how Sony goofed up - considering how much they've been full-mooning MS with a giant troll-face. It's rather hypocritical when you think about it.

Speaking of MS; they didn't do quite a bad job. Minus Dance Central.. *shutters*... Their conference wasn't half bad. Ubi's own was passable. But EA and Sony can just go and take the walk of shame.

I think it's an honest opinion to have, even though no one expected. Nintendo had a fantastic show, not a worrying one and now there is a lot of enthusiasm for Wii U that I haven't seen on the internet in a long time.

Yeah, the treehouse stream was pretty good. Even without a show on stage, they were able to show fans and press most of the software they announced. I feel as if the treehouse stream was more important than the direct. The direct announced what projects they had going, but the treehouse stream showed everything in motion. It gave you a feel of what you would see and told you about the actual products.

Next E3 i wouldn't mind getting a "Sony direct', just air it at the regular slotted time. That essentially eliminates the bugs and F up's that normally happen during a live conference. They are able to showcase what they want and do it efficiently.

They had a conference just not a stage show lol... they arguably had the most visible conference of all the console manufacturers. Reggie said it best the delivered e3 straight to the fans. Also the prerecorded digital event caters to their non English speaking devs.

Yep. Reggie recently said in an interview that one of the biggest issues was that most of their devs don't speak English which makes the presentation (via translators) cumbersome. Pre-recorded events like the one they had makes far more sense (and it was awesome!)

Basically. Instead of 3000 handpicked press memebers(Who may or may not have been bought out) we get 3000 fans who care about the game more than anything. And word of mouth carried out be 3000 fans about how good an upcoming game is has ALWAYS sold more than a two-page article about a game.

The hype level before the show was insane. When Sakurai walked on stage, the crowd went insane. And again when Mega Man used the final smash, the crowd just went nuts. It was such a fun stream to watch. I really enjoyed the way Nintendo did their presentation.

I think Sony lost E3 because they got Arrogant and Cocky and it shows. They came in assuming that because they are the sales leader and they had a show that indicated they got a big head. If you take the Multi plats, DLC and timed exclusive content out of the show you get a show talking about 2 maybe 3 games coming out this year.Then then they had the gull to pull a hey we got games but they aint coming to 2015 and there is no definitive date.

Microsoft was decent but they seemed 1 step away from desperation so they showed games but no games that made you say Yes got to get a X Box One. They said Halo is coming but here are all the games remastered and the there will be another halo.

Oh Nintendo oh Nintendo you Won but people say you lost but you win because you brought the show to the fans for 3 days.

1. The show was streamed live where you could feel the passion from the developers. 2. You had games that will be coming out in 2014 that were on the show floor. 3. You had a tournament which was streamed live and had no technical difficulties. 4. They stole a Multi Plat game and and actually made it better. 5. They introduced a few new IP's Splatoon, The toad game, Mario Maker, The early development games from Miyamoto. They have a 1st party shooter with no blood that will require skill to play 8 player muti player. This dispels that they don't do online. If the game turns out good they Will sell a lot of these games and could move systems based off of reviews. 6. The game that is trending the most out there is the Zelda game only Nintendo can show a game trailer for 30 seconds and have the internet on fire. The best part is it's all positive with people begging for more.

Also here is one more key element of the show. I need this game now.

Devil’s Third was a surprise announcement for the Wii U, as a bloody and high action M-Rated title isn’t exactly a common place on a Nintendo system. Even more surprising is that Nintendo is partnering with Itageki to bring this game to the Wii U. While all we had seen so far was the interesting single player, the Nintendo Treehouse Crew moments ago showcased the multiplayer aspect of the game, and it was quite breath-taking the amount of detail and care that went into the multiplayer aspect of the game.

Not just a simple mode added to the game to extend the replay of the game, Devil’s Third has a robust online experience that rivals some of the bigger shooting titles, and in some cases, eclipses them.

So all in all Nintendo made E3 2014 about the fans I am going to go on a limb and say that they will be copied next year.

I will agree that Nintendo had the best "show". But, being that it was prepared beforehand, it's easy to see how they SHOULD have. The pacing could be...well...perfected for the video. They DID impress with a good selection of games and some surprises, though I have to say that I am NOT as excited by Devil's Third as you. Sony wasn't arrogant or cocky, as you stated. They and MS are simply a year behind Nintendo. They don't have the same amount content because devs are still coming to grips with the new hardware. Plus, most of their stuff was leaked or hinted at before E3. Leaving them very few surprises. So, Sony relied heavily on their new strategy...indies and F2P's to fill the void. MS, on the other hand, relied on its tried and true franchises to build hype...much like Nintendo. All in all, Nintendo had a great showing. But, they should have. They had plenty of time to edit, correct, and perfect the message. Sony, aside from the corporate message that seems to be a must, showed a good selection and variety of games and products (though they avoided the Vita like the plague). MS had a strong resurgence of its "best" IP. But, didn't really shock with anything new or unknown.

Nintendo had the best showing but the worst show. They forfeited when they chose not to show up. If they had a presentation that showed Devils Third, Bayanetta 2, Xenoblade, Zelda, Hyrule Warriors, Splatoon, and whatever other games like Yoshi and Smash all with a huge audience, the cloud would've gone flipping nuts and made the WiiU viable to the Ps360 crowd.

As it is only Nin fans saw it or people like us who prob own all systems anyways (or will eventually). The only thing they didnt have was big suprises. They had some but they were all smaller games like Steam (idk what to think about it, depressed I didn't get FE ReAwakening or see SMT x FE) and Eshop stuff. Xenoblade looks like a real successor to Xenosaga instead of Xenoblade like I was expecting. That's a VERY VERY good thing! Huge space opera here i come. Zelda looks like they finally stepped into the modern era. It looks to have fast, fun, action packed combat, more epic scale, and a huge world to explore. No more closed areas with a key and three keys to find the key and linear dungeon like design. I want to live in Hyrule not just go through dungeon after dungeon. If ALBW is any indication this could be the best Zelda ever. It def looks really fresh imo. Bayanetta looks amazing as expected and Devils Third along with Splatoon seem like the type of games that would be system sellers on Xbox One and Ps4. Sucks we didnt see a Metroid, FE, Kid Icarus, or see any real Star Fox footage.

Sony didnt have any real suprises either but Bloodbourne gets me hard even if it looks more actiony and offensive vs DS defensive gameplay. They didnt announce a single vita game I saw and the only other game I want from Sony is Uncharted.

MS did damn well also. Phantom Dust, Halo Collection, and Scaleborn. Idk about Scaleborn. The MC looks like a cocky LGBT hipster but I love Platinum. They had a lot of games.

uhmm....I don't know,they didn't have 3rd party support at all but they did have pure gameplay unlike the others so I guess they handled it better and more smoothly.It kinda passed quick,the games were very predictable and not that exciting anymore

@realplaya..... I never said Sony dominated I just said Nintendo didn't. I don't think anyone dominated. But if you were actually at E3 then the Sony booth had the most games to play by far. I'm not saying they are the best just telling it like it is. I wasn't watching whatever was being broadcasted online because I was there so I'm just catching up now...on N4G. Where I usually do. Realplaya or realplaya hater/obvious Nintendo fan boy lol. E3 is about the games not trailer wars. Why even have a physical E3 if all people do is talk shit and base an opinion on trailers.

I think the format Nintendo used this year worked very well. I think this is what they were going for last year, but they were able to really think out their process and make it clean and spread the announcements throughout E3. The only thing I would suggest for them is to use their treehouse time for even more indies because they have a few coming on their system that can use the spotlight. Others may like the live conferences, but I feel after the pacing issues of Sony's conference that all 3 would benefit from doing a prepared stream to clean things up.